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In the past couple of years there has been a huge uptick in YT content targeting very young children. The feedback loop is so tight that many of the creators h

In the past couple of years there has been a huge uptick in YT content targeting very young children. The feedback loop is so tight that many of the creators have converged on designing some of the most visceral (and disturbing) material that appeals to kids at a reptilian level. Think about how genuinely weird little kids are. Sometimes they do stuff that would be scary if it wasn't just a minute of innocent pretend and a toy. Stuff like kidnapping each other or performing surgery on each other. Well, now there are hundreds of thousands of YT videos illustrating that kind of material in fine detail. Many of them have millions of views. This site [1] has a good collection of screenshots of what I'm referring to. Unfortunately, it's such a heavyweight site that AdBlock is practically required just to open the page. [1] https://vigilantcitizen.com/moviesandtv/something-is-terribly-wrong-with-many-kids-videos-on-youtube/ https://vigilantcitizen.com/moviesandtv/something-is-terribl... "Warning: This article contains disturbing images … although they’re all taken from children’s videos." If your children are watching YouTube, make sure they are doing it only when and where you are able to see what they are watching.

thatswrong0 9y ago
I noticed this myself watching my friends young cousin browse Youtube.. his feed was half clickbait 20-something white guys yelling at you to subscribe Minecraft videos, half perverted (such as Spiderman kissing Elsa from Frozen) or oddly gory children videos like the ones described in the article. If I ever have kids, there's no way in hell I'm letting them run free with an iPad or iPhone. I know it's the "easy way out" to distract your kids at the dinner table, but I can't help but feel like it's bad for their mental development. Then again, I was part of the first generation that grew up with the modern internet and am decently well adjusted despite being exposed to weird content at a young age. Hm.
- bdamm 9y ago
  You may make a different choice after years of being unable to do anything but give 100% of your attention to the child. Someone needs to cook & clean, or go to work, after all. In the "old days" you'd just cut your kid loose into the environment. Well, these days, TV and iPads are part of the environment, and YouTube along with it. I'm not saying you wouldn't make boundaries. Boundaries are important. But that may also include a certain amount of time of letting the child "run free" with the iPad.
  - ForRealsies 9y ago
    Elsagate
  - SkyMarshal 9y ago
    Or you just do it the old fashioned way - teach them to read and give them books. If they can use an iPad they can read.
    - cpach 9y ago
      No. Kids can operate iPads long well before they are able to learn how to read.
      - coolaliasbro 9y ago
        I think parent was referring to children that can read, but in any case, children don't come preloaded with tablets, etc.. If my son decides to get crafty and throw a fit because I will not let him play with my phone (ever) or a PS4 controller or whatever, his ass can sit in his room and figure it out and/or cry. I don't negotiate with terrorists.
    - bdamm 9y ago
      My child was competently operating an iPad before he could talk or walk
      - softawre 9y ago
        Mine too, and it is amazing. Would yours also try to touch the TV to swipe it? My 4 year old is just now learning to use a mouse, but she's been at a touchscreen for over 3 years.
        jarrettch 9y ago
        My daughter is 3 and learned to use a phone/tablet before she was 2. Whenever I'd pull up YouTube on my tv she'd walk to the tv and try to swipe it as well. Often getting upset thinking the tv was broken, haha. She was used to iPads, but one day I gave her my Android tablet. She was upset at first because things are slightly different, but adjusted quickly. I was shocked at how fast she picked it up.
- graphitezepp 9y ago
  Also part of the first generation internet, definitely believe the internet was deeply harmful to my development, as well as a subset of my peers. Suspect that subset will grow larger with Ipad parenting being normal. Not trying to tell anyone how to parent, but I don't like how ubiquitous internet has become with so little good psychology done on it's effects socially.
  - rjeli 9y ago
    Yeah. I learned fascinating things from Wikipedia, learned to develop, which led to working in tech which I am thankful for. But I also went from reading novels for 12 hours a day to browsing reddit for 12 hours a day, which did a number on my brain. Deeply regret it.
    - sjg007 9y ago
      I found that it reduced my concentration and ability to focus.
      - CM30 9y ago
        I found the same thing after I started using Twitter and Facebook. Old school websites as a kid? Eh, didn't hurt my concentration that much. But modern social media sites are something different entirely, and they've likely given their users a 30 second attention span or worse.
- DanBC 9y ago
  watch out though. "Is captainsparkles child-friendly?" or "child friendly youtubers" into google will return lists saying yes, captainsparkles is child friendly. He's employed by MakerStudios, which is owned by Disney. Seems pretty solidly okay for children. Except, when he plays with other people, they'll start swearing. So, you have to prescreen everything, or have the discussion about language, or just not care about language. (Even if you don't care if your 6 year old says "fuck" I can pretty much guarantee that schools and other parents see it as a problem.)
- Swizec 9y ago
  > half perverted (such as Spiderman kissing Elsa from Frozen) or oddly gory children videos like the ones described in the article. Sounds a lot like the Cartoon Network I was addicted to as a kid. When I watch some of those cartoons and understand the subtextual jokes ... damn that shit was pervy and weird. As a kid I had no idea. Didn't even notice, I just liked it when the Coyote got flattened, Dexter's experiment blew up, and Jerry hit Tom with a baseball bat.
- kpil 9y ago
  Here's an anecdote: My five year old daughter got a new classmate in kindergarten that didn't speak our language but knew a little English. In some way my daughter must have learned just enough words and sentences to be able to communicate more or less right away. The teachers found this fascinating and asked us if we were teaching her or even talking English at home - which we don't. In fact we had no idea what they were talking about. Anyway, she seems to understand quite much. I have absolutely no idea where this comes from - the only thing I can think of is that it's because of YouTube. Not that she spends hours and hours, but since she more or less never watches TV I haven't been bothered that much if she get stuck in front of a tablet for a while. That being said, I try to be aware of what she's watching because there is some weird stuff out there although I don't exactly think that Spidey kissing is harmful.
fudged71 9y ago
My wife is a teacher and one of her students in grade 2 has somehow been seeing beheading videos (apparently on youtube but that seems nearly impossible) because they are left with an ipad for so long. I can't even begin to comprehend what that would do to the brain of a child. TV for children is very restricted and regulated for a very important reason.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- Retric 9y ago
  Beheading was public spectacle up until very recently, kids are less distressed by seeing violence than you might think. If anything it's people with problems that tend to search for such things rather than such videos causing something.
  - pmoriarty 9y ago
    People should read the old, original Brothers Grim stories. Plenty of that was pretty, ahem, grim. Over the centuries it's been sanitized and Disneyfied, but the primal drives that fascinated by that sort of thing have not gone away.
    - watwut 9y ago
      German censorship around books for children was quite tight actually. Not all of that was for little children, a lot of it effectively scary stories for older ones. Also half todays cartoons would not pass neither comic code nor restrictions at early movies.
      - pmoriarty 9y ago
        What you describe is a later development. There was no comic code or movie censorship in the 19th century or in the centuries before, wherein lay the sources for the Grimm's tales.
stephenboyd 9y ago
Holy shit, that's worse than I expected.
jacobr 9y ago
> I've spent the last two decades researching Theosophy, Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism, the Bavarian Illuminati and Western Occultism. Not a great source though.
40acres 9y ago
My goddaughter is 2 and my girlfriend's nephew (who've I spent considerable amount of time with) is 4. The goddaughter watches may more TV than the 4 year old but both watch a couple of hours a week. I've only seen them view animation videos on youtube that seem like in days gone by would air on PBS. I'm not sure what kind of parent would let their kids watch stuff like this but it's pretty shocking to see that this stuff is even marketed as "for children". The only "for children" things I've seen on Youtube are pretty innocent animated shorts (lots of nursery rhymes too). But I guess the algorithm will show you what it thinks you like.
hkon 9y ago
Wow... I had no idea.

thatswrong0 9y ago

I noticed this myself watching my friends young cousin browse Youtube.. his feed was half clickbait 20-something white guys yelling at you to subscribe Minecraft videos, half perverted (such as Spiderman kissing Elsa from Frozen) or oddly gory children videos like the ones described in the article. If I ever have kids, there's no way in hell I'm letting them run free with an iPad or iPhone. I know it's the "easy way out" to distract your kids at the dinner table, but I can't help but feel like it's bad for their mental development. Then again, I was part of the first generation that grew up with the modern internet and am decently well adjusted despite being exposed to weird content at a young age. Hm.

bdamm 9y ago
You may make a different choice after years of being unable to do anything but give 100% of your attention to the child. Someone needs to cook & clean, or go to work, after all. In the "old days" you'd just cut your kid loose into the environment. Well, these days, TV and iPads are part of the environment, and YouTube along with it. I'm not saying you wouldn't make boundaries. Boundaries are important. But that may also include a certain amount of time of letting the child "run free" with the iPad.
- ForRealsies 9y ago
  Elsagate
- SkyMarshal 9y ago
  Or you just do it the old fashioned way - teach them to read and give them books. If they can use an iPad they can read.
  - cpach 9y ago
    No. Kids can operate iPads long well before they are able to learn how to read.
    - coolaliasbro 9y ago
      I think parent was referring to children that can read, but in any case, children don't come preloaded with tablets, etc.. If my son decides to get crafty and throw a fit because I will not let him play with my phone (ever) or a PS4 controller or whatever, his ass can sit in his room and figure it out and/or cry. I don't negotiate with terrorists.
  - bdamm 9y ago
    My child was competently operating an iPad before he could talk or walk
    - softawre 9y ago
      Mine too, and it is amazing. Would yours also try to touch the TV to swipe it? My 4 year old is just now learning to use a mouse, but she's been at a touchscreen for over 3 years.
      - jarrettch 9y ago
        My daughter is 3 and learned to use a phone/tablet before she was 2. Whenever I'd pull up YouTube on my tv she'd walk to the tv and try to swipe it as well. Often getting upset thinking the tv was broken, haha. She was used to iPads, but one day I gave her my Android tablet. She was upset at first because things are slightly different, but adjusted quickly. I was shocked at how fast she picked it up.
graphitezepp 9y ago
Also part of the first generation internet, definitely believe the internet was deeply harmful to my development, as well as a subset of my peers. Suspect that subset will grow larger with Ipad parenting being normal. Not trying to tell anyone how to parent, but I don't like how ubiquitous internet has become with so little good psychology done on it's effects socially.
- rjeli 9y ago
  Yeah. I learned fascinating things from Wikipedia, learned to develop, which led to working in tech which I am thankful for. But I also went from reading novels for 12 hours a day to browsing reddit for 12 hours a day, which did a number on my brain. Deeply regret it.
  - sjg007 9y ago
    I found that it reduced my concentration and ability to focus.
    - CM30 9y ago
      I found the same thing after I started using Twitter and Facebook. Old school websites as a kid? Eh, didn't hurt my concentration that much. But modern social media sites are something different entirely, and they've likely given their users a 30 second attention span or worse.
DanBC 9y ago
watch out though. "Is captainsparkles child-friendly?" or "child friendly youtubers" into google will return lists saying yes, captainsparkles is child friendly. He's employed by MakerStudios, which is owned by Disney. Seems pretty solidly okay for children. Except, when he plays with other people, they'll start swearing. So, you have to prescreen everything, or have the discussion about language, or just not care about language. (Even if you don't care if your 6 year old says "fuck" I can pretty much guarantee that schools and other parents see it as a problem.)
Swizec 9y ago
> half perverted (such as Spiderman kissing Elsa from Frozen) or oddly gory children videos like the ones described in the article. Sounds a lot like the Cartoon Network I was addicted to as a kid. When I watch some of those cartoons and understand the subtextual jokes ... damn that shit was pervy and weird. As a kid I had no idea. Didn't even notice, I just liked it when the Coyote got flattened, Dexter's experiment blew up, and Jerry hit Tom with a baseball bat.
kpil 9y ago
Here's an anecdote: My five year old daughter got a new classmate in kindergarten that didn't speak our language but knew a little English. In some way my daughter must have learned just enough words and sentences to be able to communicate more or less right away. The teachers found this fascinating and asked us if we were teaching her or even talking English at home - which we don't. In fact we had no idea what they were talking about. Anyway, she seems to understand quite much. I have absolutely no idea where this comes from - the only thing I can think of is that it's because of YouTube. Not that she spends hours and hours, but since she more or less never watches TV I haven't been bothered that much if she get stuck in front of a tablet for a while. That being said, I try to be aware of what she's watching because there is some weird stuff out there although I don't exactly think that Spidey kissing is harmful.

fudged71 9y ago

My wife is a teacher and one of her students in grade 2 has somehow been seeing beheading videos (apparently on youtube but that seems nearly impossible) because they are left with an ipad for so long. I can't even begin to comprehend what that would do to the brain of a child. TV for children is very restricted and regulated for a very important reason.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
Retric 9y ago
Beheading was public spectacle up until very recently, kids are less distressed by seeing violence than you might think. If anything it's people with problems that tend to search for such things rather than such videos causing something.
- pmoriarty 9y ago
  People should read the old, original Brothers Grim stories. Plenty of that was pretty, ahem, grim. Over the centuries it's been sanitized and Disneyfied, but the primal drives that fascinated by that sort of thing have not gone away.
  - watwut 9y ago
    German censorship around books for children was quite tight actually. Not all of that was for little children, a lot of it effectively scary stories for older ones. Also half todays cartoons would not pass neither comic code nor restrictions at early movies.
    - pmoriarty 9y ago
      What you describe is a later development. There was no comic code or movie censorship in the 19th century or in the centuries before, wherein lay the sources for the Grimm's tales.

stephenboyd 9y ago

Holy shit, that's worse than I expected.

jacobr 9y ago

> I've spent the last two decades researching Theosophy, Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism, the Bavarian Illuminati and Western Occultism. Not a great source though.

40acres 9y ago

My goddaughter is 2 and my girlfriend's nephew (who've I spent considerable amount of time with) is 4. The goddaughter watches may more TV than the 4 year old but both watch a couple of hours a week. I've only seen them view animation videos on youtube that seem like in days gone by would air on PBS. I'm not sure what kind of parent would let their kids watch stuff like this but it's pretty shocking to see that this stuff is even marketed as "for children". The only "for children" things I've seen on Youtube are pretty innocent animated shorts (lots of nursery rhymes too). But I guess the algorithm will show you what it thinks you like.

hkon 9y ago

Wow... I had no idea.